Yankees give slumping Anthony Rizzo a seat on the bench for series finale vs. Dodgers
Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo reacts after he fouled out to Dodgers catcher Will Smith to end an MLB game in the 11th inning at Yankee Stadium on Friday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Slumping Anthony Rizzo was not in the Yankees' starting lineup on Sunday night against the Dodgers and might get another game off on Monday night in Kansas City.
Manager Aaron Boone started DJ LeMahieu at first base against righthander Tyler Glasnow with Oswaldo Cabrera at third.
“I just felt like it was time,’’ Boone said. “It’s been on my mind a little bit. I felt today was the day and we’ll see where we go from here.”
Rizzo went into the night 1-for-29 in June. Overall, he is batting .224 with seven home runs, 25 RBIs and a .623 OPS.
“That's the life of a big-leaguer,” Boone said. “You play this game long enough, the game will kind of bring you to your knees at times. It's tough. It's a grind. You hear that ‘grind’ all the time. It is. It is, especially being a hitter in this league, man. It's hard, even when you've had a ton of success. So again, the thing with him as you look around the league, there's a lot of guys that are having really, really tough years. He's still a two-, three-week get-it-going and all of a sudden his numbers start to line up. He's been productive through stretches here. It’s just these last two, three weeks, it’s been a struggle for him. But he's working through it and [I’m] confident he'll get through it.”
Soto sighting
Boone said Juan Soto, who did not start for the third straight game because of left forearm soreness, was going to go through his usual pregame routine in hopes of being an option off the bench on Sunday. Boone said Soto could return to the lineup during the series in Kansas City.
Cole sighting
Gerrit Cole allowed one run and two hits with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings for Double-A Somerset against Hartford in his second rehab outing.
Cole, who threw 57 pitches, struck out his final two batters. His fastball velocity improved the more he threw.
“I definitely did get stronger as the game went on,” Cole said, according to MLB.com. “I thought the pitch count landed in a great spot. I thought fastball was not very good early. Missing in bad places, and that definitely progressed to where we executed the last seven or eight of them.”
Boone said Cole, who hasn’t pitched for the Yankees this season because of nerve inflammation and edema in his right elbow, will need at least one more minor-league rehab start before he joins the rotation.
Martian sighting
Top prospect Jasson Dominguez went 4-for-5 and homered for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday. “The Martian” is 10-for-20 (.500) with two home runs for Scranton as he continues an extended rehab assignment from Tommy John surgery.
Asked if Dominguez’s time has come, Boone said not if there isn’t a regular spot in the lineup for the 21-year-old.
“He is playing well, in a good spot, and you certainly know what he's capable of,” Boone said. “When it's his time, we'll be excited for that because we know what kind of impact he can have. But we're not going to rush that, either. It'll be when it's right . . . If [it’s] the time he's going to come up here, he's going to play. So that avenue’s going to have to be there.”
Marinaccio sighting
The Yankees designated righthander Dennis Santana for assignment and called up righthander Ron Marinaccio from Scranton.
Santana was 2-0 with a 6.26 ERA in 23 games. Marinaccio had a 1.42 ERA in nine appearances when he was sent down on May 9 because Nick Burdi came off the injured list and Marinaccio had minor-league options.
“He was frustrated going down last time,” Boone said. “But to his credit, he went down there and did what he needed to do.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
